There are few things quite as British as reaching for the tea caddy in a crisis. I swear it does actually make you feel better. In my cade it’s probably because my lovely Highland Granny was never far away from her teapot, dishing out that comforting nectar and dispensing smiles and stories.

She didn’t live long enough to see the Internet, and she would have been flabbergasted by it. Two decades post decimalisation, she still referred to transactions in old money, but then she was 70 when they changed it all. The idea of Facebook and Twitter and mobile phones would have fascinated her and flummoxed her in equal measure.

She would, though, have loved the idea of the latest phenomenon to sweep social networking sites, #OperationCupofTea. Set up by 22 year old You Tuber Sam Pepper, the idea is that instead of going out rioting, you stay at home & drink tea between the hours of 8.30 and 11.30 pm. It’s really caught people’s mood and at the time of writing has 270,000 participants. Not bad for a day’s work.

You are supposed to post a tea related picture at that time on Twitter or the Facebook page. Here’s mine from last night:

I’d explained it all to Anna, who looked at me wryly and said “I don’t like tea, does this mean I have to go rioting?” I said that any drink in a mug would do, so she picked her favourite, fizzy water.